Little Mary

M played "Mary" for her class's Christmas production.

Her classmates wore traditional Arab dresses.

So SWEET!!

Christmas Parties

 K's Christmas party was last week.  

We were proud of our baby, singing Christmas songs in English AND in Arabic.  

A sweet wave to Mom and Dad.

A smile we were happy to see, while the poor boy in front of her cried through the whole show.

The best part was when her whole class took off their necklaces and gave their "hearts" to the baby in the manger!

K reminding her classmates to "be quiet" between songs.

K getting a hug from the kids' wonderful Arabic tutor, who is one of her teachers.

Introducing Mario!

Ok, we felt a little guilty about sharing Bruce Lee the chameleon without introducing Mario.  We inherited Mario from some friends who were leaving the country.  He has been a fun pet, too!

He spends his days swimming with some nameless fish in the aquarium in the boys' room.  

When he sees us, he expects FOOD, which are simple turtle food pellets that he happily devours.  If only Bruce Lee was so easy to please.  Bruce won't eat anything that doesn't wiggle!

Trick-or-Treat!!

The kids were feeling a little bummed about missing out on begging for candy with their friends.  (They don't do that here.)  So Dad took us all out to go "dukkaan" (convenience store) hopping in our neighborhood. 

The kids stocked up on treats and came home smiling!

So they came home to check out their loot and had a healthy dinner of soda, candy bars, chips, sugary liquid in a spray bottle(?), and chocolate... oh, and a little chicken stew!

Afterward, Dad had them show off their best scary faces!

                                              K had two silly faces!

   

Thanks for a fun night, Daddy!

A thawb or thobe (Arabic: ثوب‎ / ALA-LC: thawb), dishdasha (دشداشة / dishdāshah), kandura (كندورة / kandūrah), or suriyah in Libya, is an ankle-length garment, usually with long sleeves, similar to a robe. This clothing is called Kanzu in Swahili, and is commonly worn in East Africa as well.

Our favorite taxi driver brought us gifts back from his hajj to Mecca.  Here are the boys in their dishdash's.  Pretty cool, huh?

Party Time!

So we are sitting at our dining room table doing our homework at 10:00 on a Monday night.  It's a beautiful night, the windows are open wide to let in the cool breeze.  Outside music is blaring from a function (concert, party, wedding, we have no idea what it is, really??), one block away.  C went to the roof to check it out, then for a quick walk.  Whatever it is, it looks like they are having fun.  C said it's all shabaab (meaning young men),  no women in sight.  Guys dancing and doing something with swords, while another guy sings.  It's been going a couple of hours now.  The music is punctuated every few minutes with beautiful fireworks.  No wonder the kids had a hard time going to sleep tonight.  We love the festive lifestyle here!  Our friends really know how to throw a party!

...11:00 now...The music is still going...I consulted with a neighbor I saw just coming in with her husband and 2 and 4 yr old sons (This really is a late-night culture!  We night-owls love it!).  Her first reaction when I asked about the reason for the music was, "What music?"  After that she agreed, "maybe a wedding".  The busiest "wedding season" is in the summer, when there are parties like this, with music and fireworks, every Wednesday- Sunday night. Who needs a stereo?... Just open the windows!

Aroma Buffet

This is the spice and olive selection at our local supermarket.  I only wish I could transmit the aroma offered at this buffet for the senses.  It's wonderful!  (You can see my favorite shopping cart escalator in the background.)